Wednesday, April 4, 2018

SOUTHERN BORDER INVASION: President Trump Needs To Learn From Austraila and REMEMBER THE TAMPA

In 2001, Australia's governing coalition, led by John Howard's Liberal party (who are, in fact, the country's conservative party) looked set to lose its majority. The opposition, led by the Labor party, had been leading in the polls for most of the year.

Enter the Tampa affair.

In late August, just eight weeks or so before the election, a Norwegian freighter, the MV Tampa, attempted to enter Australian waters. It was carrying more than 400 refugees, mostly from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Howard's government refused the ship's request to enter Australian seas because the passengers had been picked up in Indonesian seas. His argument was that, by law, that made the refugees Indonesia's responsibility.

But the Tampa's captain ignored Howard's warnings and entered Australian waters. Howard responded by sending Australian SAS forces to interdict, board, and capture the vessel. The refugees eventually ended up on the nearby island of Nauru, where their status was sorted out.